Off-route warnings tell you when you stray from the route you’re following, so you can spend more time hiking and less time checking your phone. They’re part of HiiKER PRO+.

In this article: How they work · Start a hike with warnings · Turn them on or off · When you go off route · Good to know

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How off-route warnings work

Warnings work whenever you record a hike with a guide route. They’re on by default, and HiiKER warns you when you’re more than 50 m from the route. You can change that distance (see below).

When you go off route, you get:

• A notification – “You have gone off route! Check the map to get back on track”. It reaches you even when your phone is locked.
• An on-screen alert – a You’ve wandered off the trail card with ways to get back on track (see below).
• A spoken warning – if you’re using turn-by-turn navigation with voice cues on, you’ll hear “You have gone off route, please check your map”.

Off-route warnings need a HiiKER PRO+ subscription. Free accounts get one warning to try them out.

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Start a hike with off-route warnings

1. Open a hike: one of ours, or one you’ve planned.
2. Tap Start Navigation.
3. Tap Start on the Record tab.

You can also choose a guide on the Record tab: tap More, pick a hike, recording or GPX file, then tap Start. See How to record a hike on HiiKER.

Allow HiiKER to use your location and to send notifications when it asks. Without notifications you won’t be warned while your phone is locked, and on Android you won’t be warned at all.

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Turn warnings on or off and set the distance

1. On the Home tab, tap the settings icon.
2. Tap App Settings, then Customize.
3. Tap Off route warnings (iPhone) or Off route warning (Android).
4. Use the Activate off route warnings switch to turn warnings on or off.
5. Under Set warning sensitivity, choose how far from the trail you can go before HiiKER warns you.

• Low – 300 m (1,000 ft)
• Moderate (iPhone) or Medium (Android) – 200 m (650 ft)
• High – 100 m (350 ft)
• Very High – 50 m (165 ft). This is the default.
• Maximum – 25 m (80 ft)

The higher the sensitivity, the sooner you’re warned. Tap Reset to default to go back to Very High (50 m).

You can also switch warnings on or off during a hike: tap Options on the map and use the Off route warnings switch.

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When you go off route

The You’ve wandered off the trail card shows how far you are from the route and offers four choices:

• GUIDE ME BACK TO THE TRAIL – HiiKER plans a walking route back to the trail, either to where you left it or to the nearest point, and guides you along it. Your recording keeps going.
• GUIDE ME TO THE FINISH – a walking route straight to the end of your hike. HiiKER stops following the original route for the rest of the recording, so you won’t get any more warnings or turn-by-turn directions for it.
• CONTINUE – close the card and carry on.
• MUTE WARNINGS – turn off-route warnings off. They stay off until you switch them back on in Customize or Options.

If HiiKER can’t find a walking route from where you are, it tells you so. Check the map and head back the way you came.

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Good to know

• Warnings start once you’ve been on the route. If you start recording away from the trail, you won’t be warned until you’ve joined it.
• HiiKER waits for several accurate GPS readings before it warns you, so one jumpy reading under trees won’t set it off.
• If you stay off route, iPhone warns you again every 2 minutes. Android warns you once, then again only after you’ve been back on the route.
• Off-route warnings and turn-by-turn navigation work together. You can use both at the same time.

Related: Why didn’t I get an off-route warning? · Turn-by-turn navigation · How to record a hike on HiiKER